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2011 Books 13
Feb. 8th, 2011 07:09 amI keep thinking I should return to a weekly posting structure, but I don't want to lose momentum on this again.
13) Curse of the Pogo Stick by Colin Cotterill: This is the fifth Dr. Siri Paiboun mystery, resolving murders and conspiracies in 1978 Laos shortly after the communist takeover. Siri is an aged revolutionary with modest connections to the fledgling (and often inept) government, the country's only coroner and also the receptacle for the spirit of an ancient Hmong shaman which lets him sometimes see spirits and experience prophetic dreams. He's got a small, eccentric staff and circle of friends who assist in various investigations. The mysteries are fun, play fair and are usually challenging enough, but the real joy is the humor of the interactions between the characters. Since Cotterill lived in Laos as part of a NGO during the time being depicted the series has a fair verisimilitude, with the hope the revolutionaries had for self government during the transition slowly being eroded by the corruption and ineptitude of a revolution that suddenly won and realized they didn't actually have a plan for governing after victory - aside from spouting approved communist party slogans. This particular book was nice in that the heroes acted, well, smart, and there were no instances of them doing dumb things just to advance the plot. Plus lots of fun watching Siri's direct boss and foil make an idiot of himself. The more I read mysteries this year the more I want to try out a Trail of Cthulhu game.
13) Curse of the Pogo Stick by Colin Cotterill: This is the fifth Dr. Siri Paiboun mystery, resolving murders and conspiracies in 1978 Laos shortly after the communist takeover. Siri is an aged revolutionary with modest connections to the fledgling (and often inept) government, the country's only coroner and also the receptacle for the spirit of an ancient Hmong shaman which lets him sometimes see spirits and experience prophetic dreams. He's got a small, eccentric staff and circle of friends who assist in various investigations. The mysteries are fun, play fair and are usually challenging enough, but the real joy is the humor of the interactions between the characters. Since Cotterill lived in Laos as part of a NGO during the time being depicted the series has a fair verisimilitude, with the hope the revolutionaries had for self government during the transition slowly being eroded by the corruption and ineptitude of a revolution that suddenly won and realized they didn't actually have a plan for governing after victory - aside from spouting approved communist party slogans. This particular book was nice in that the heroes acted, well, smart, and there were no instances of them doing dumb things just to advance the plot. Plus lots of fun watching Siri's direct boss and foil make an idiot of himself. The more I read mysteries this year the more I want to try out a Trail of Cthulhu game.
